Broadway vets react to Tony-winning star Gavin Creel’s death at 48: Bette Midler, Sutton Foster and more
The Great White Way is mourning Gavin Creel.
Broadway stars reacted to the news of the Tony-winning actor’s death at just 48 on Monday, sharing their grief and shock.
Creel’s partner announced his death, revealing the young star of shows such as “Hair!” and “Hello, Dolly!” died of metastatic melanotic peripheral nerve sheath sarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer which he was diag꧒nosed with in July.
Sutton Foster, who starred alongside Creel in “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” for which Creel earned his first Tony nomination, mourned the late star in a post on Instagram.
“My sweet friend. I will love you forever,”
“Book of Mormon” star Josh Gad sai♓d he couldn’t find the “rig🅺ht words” to express his grief.
“Sometimes, I don’t have the right words to describe my sadness,” Gad, 43, . “Today is one of those days. We have lost someone far too young, f🃏ar too early still in his journeꦡy and far too impactful to our creative community.”
“My heart breaks for hisꦉ family🦩 and his closest friends,” he added. “This is just not fair. We will never forget you @realgavincreel.”
Creel 💫played the role of Elder Price🦹 in the first US tour and the West End tour of “Mormon.”
Creel’s “Hello, Dolly!” costar Bette Midler also paid tribute to the late actor, who won a Tony for his work 🐼in the re𝓀vival.
“Beloved by the #Broadway community, the radiant actor #GavinCreel has died from a rare form of cancer,” . “He played Cornelius Hackl to my Dolly in ‘Hello Dolly’ and I looked forward to working with him every single night. He was fantastic. I can’t believe he’s gone. What a෴ loss.”
“There are no words to describe this loss. Gavin was my first role model, idol and hero,” fellow Tony-winner and star of “Dear Evan Hansen” Ben Platt said on his y on Monday.
“He showed me around backstage after I saw my first Broadway show. I couldn’t believe someone that supernaturally talented could also be every single person in the building’s favorite human being. I wanted to sing just like him and be just like him.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who cast Creel to play King George III in “The Hamilton Mixtape,” his then-work in progress that would become the Broadway smash “Hamilton,” said he was “shattered” by the news of the actor’s death.
“Gavin Creel was our first King when all we had was 11 songs and he wrapped the audience around his finger with nothing but a Burger King crown and his mind-blowing charisma and talent,” of Creel singing with Joshua Henry, Brian D’Arcy James, Phillipa Soo and Sara Bareilles.
“He is so loved and it is unimaginable that he’s no longer with us. My heart goes out to all the friends and family and collaborators lucky enough to be in his orbit. We love you and we’ll always love you Gavin.”
Idina Menzel, who hosted the 2021 PBS special “Wicked in Concert” which Cr🅺eel performed in, , “Sweet sweet Gavin Creel. An angel among the angels. I love you so much.”
“What a terribly sad loss,” Cynthia Erivo, star of Broadway’s “The Color Purple” and the upcoming “Wicked” movie posted on her Instagram story. “Rest in peace Gavin.”
One of the more emotional memorials came from actor Casey✃ Likes, 22, who starred in the Broadway adaptations of the movies “Al🌠most Famous” and “Back to the Future,” who
“Gavin came to almost famous and that🐷 is where we met. I was in a very rough pﷺlace as that show was closing and his words of advice kept me going and inspired me the past two years of being a performer,” Likes wrote in a statement posted to X.
“We always said we would do something together. Our last conversation was his kindness after he saw back to the future. I thanked him for how much his words saved me 2 years ago. The man is one of the most inspiration, kind hearted, skilled and incredible people t✃his industry has EVER seen.💎”
, he shared a te🧸xt Creel sent him, a message which he credited for “basically saving” his life⭕.
“I thanked gavin creel for basically🙈 saving my life and inspiring me to continue performing and this was his response,” Likes wrote.
As revealed in a s൩creenshot of th🎃eir conversation, Creel texted the young actor, “So happy you are happy and in it. and I look forward to see you in the show when i get some time. keep going and keep enchanting audiences. we are lucky to have this time to do this work. lucky life.”
The Tony Awards , posting a video of his 2017 acceptance speech on X, saying, “Today, we mourn the devastating loss of Tony Award winner Gavin Creel, whose extraordinary talent, kindness, and passion lit up 🧸the stage and our hearts.”
Creel also starred in a host of other Broadway musicals, including “La Cage aux Folles” (2004), “She Loves Me” (2016), “Waitress” (2019), and “Into the Woods” (2022). He often performed on London’s West End as well, including turns in “Mary♋ Poppins” (2006) and “Waitress” (2020).
